Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Iwata comments on new hardware

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata made various comments regarding new hardware the company was working on, likely to succeed both the current Wii and DS consoles. Iwata noted firstly in an investors note (Japanese), translated by Andriasang:

If asked if making the Wii compatible with high definition - just making it compatible with high resolution - will get players throughout the world to buy it, I would of course say, 'Do you think it would sell with just that? It needs something new.' (...)

If there were no rival makers in the world, I could give examples of the things that we are considering. However, for competitive reasons, I cannot give specifics today on the what or when of the things we're considering.

Speaking to The Associated Press (via Yahoo News), Iwata was keen to quell rumours about a new DS equipped with motion-sensors, as well as about a hardware revision for the Wii, capable of high-definition video output.

"I question whether those features would be enough to get people to buy new machines," he said of the DS. Nintendo engineers are developing new machines, he said, without giving details.

Iwata also doesn't expect 3D video-gaming to catch on, although he welcomed 3D movies at theaters like James Cameron's hit "Avatar."

"I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" he said at a Tokyo hotel.

Sony Corp. and other technology companies are making big investments in 3-D TVs, expecting it will boost sales growth in the next few years.

Kyoto-based Nintendo, the maker of Pokemon and Super Mario games, would also have to look into the possible health effects of longtime 3-D game playing, which is likely to last longer than a two-hour film, Iwata said.

Iwata made it clear that successors to both DS and Wii will have to go beyond high-definition and motion sensors. His comments on 3D technology seem highly sceptical. However, he specifically mentions traditional stereoscopic displays with either polarised or shutter glasses. Long-time readers will know that autostereoscopic displays (not requiring any kind of headgear) are in the pipeline and could already be offered at a mass-market price.

I personally see 3D technology as the only possible option for Nintendo, as far as a Wii successor is concerned. And Nintendo has earned enough money over the Wii's lifespan so far to make the investments necessary for such a revolution in gaming. With the advent of streaming content threatening all current consoles and with both Sony and Microsoft adopting motion controls for their high-definition hardware, this would be the only technology to give them an edge against both of those threats.Sources: Nintendo (Japanese), Andriasang, Associated Press (via Yahoo News)Thanks to: Joystiq

3D Technology is a non-starter. So long as people need those goofy glasses, or two perfectly good eyes, or need to buy a weird looking TV, then Nintendo will never consider it.

If anything Nintendo's next big revolution will be going back to a cartridge format, using Holographic technology to eliminate loadtimes and make more durable games. People will laugh at them, again, for going "backwards" in technology, and then wonder why nobody ever wants to see an optical disk again (or spend 2 days downloading a "purcahsed" (rented) copy of a game.)

i would not be surprised, if nintendos next step is 3 d without glasses like you wrote years ago.

the technology of www.poc.com

is cheap and work without glasses.so nintendo could have taken this idea for the wii, i still thinka screen as add-on. it would perfectly function with the remote, so you coul touch the things directly for example to hit a tennis-ball back....could you, falafelkid, mr. garbe,not go in contakt with this organisation to find out, if thereis something true on this story.?

sony has already been taking steps toward stereo-3d. what makes you even begin to consider that nintendo would jump right back into another red ocean?

beginning with the vitality sensor, nintendo will continue down the path of fighting against disinterest. will 3d technology fight against disinterest for some people? yes it will. is it part of a blue ocean strategy? no it is not.

i won't completely write off that nintendo might still go the 3d route yet, but it seems pretty unlikely. chances are, they'll just surprise everyone again with something new-- a new way to combat the disinterest of non-gamers and former-gamers.

Here’s an interesting bit of trivia from Nintendo’s financial results briefing. When asked for his opinion on 3D technology in games, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that he felt 3D technology wasn’t suited to multiplayer or family-oriented games, which is what Nintendo have been primarily focused on.

However, he went on to reveal that the idea of developing 3D games on a home console has been tossed around at Nintendo before, and that there were even measures taken to help realize it on the Gamecube if the need ever arose.

“In fact there have already been discussions for a possibility of a 3D video game for a long time,” stated Iwata. “To tell you the truth, GameCube is secretly designed to load graphical circuits which display graphics for right and left eyes respectively, for a future possibility of realizing 3D gaming experience. So actually we have had interest on this technology, but I have some doubt about everyone needing glasses to play.”

As final note, he added: “To wrap up, we have interests but are also aware that there are so many hurdles to overcome, thus we don’t believe every kind of game will become 3D environment in no time.”

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